One funny aspect of being an expat

We just had a bunch of friends visiting us this past month. I am an extrovert, so my "love tank" is quite full right now. We have amazing friends. Our last guests have left our apartment and I have been pondering this thought...in small ways and in big ways...Being an expat forces you to think about what items are most important to you in life. Our lives are often reduced to how many suitcases we can take on a flight and how much weight the airline will allow.

How much more can I squeeze in?

Which item do I need to leave behind?

When people move abroad, I often ask them what random items they put into their suitcases because you can honestly tell a lot about a person by what they decided to pack. For example, a few months ago I asked a friend this question and she said she brought a special throw for her bed that was given by a family member...also almond butter. One young woman I met once brought high quality paints for her artwork. A different friend brought his BIKE efficiently packed up in A BAG! Someone else, natural toothpaste (enough for one year) and essential oils of course. I brought lots of vitamins, natural soaps, my cast iron pans, bacon, my favorite lotion, and Korean ingredients for cooking (just to name a few things). One of my dear friends recently brought a special handmade rug and squeezed it into her luggage!

If you are still confused by this post, here is a visual example of this from shopping yesterday. A sweet friend was in town and she wanted some pretty coasters for her apartment. I told her the two options I have found: These coasters all look the similar, don't they? But they aren't at all. The 4 on the left are made of a thin metal with cork underneath. The 4 on the right are made of a heavy ceramic. They actually cost the same. This picture is of the coasters stacked together...So which one did my friend opt for?

The left one of course!

You would be surprised by how heavy the ceramic coasters are...every ounce counts depending on the airline employee who weighs your bag. My husband and I have become quite the expert packers. We had one airline employee literally cracking up by how perfectly close each of our bags was to the weight limit without going over. The airline employee even came around the counter and shook my husband's hand after weighing our bags and praised him for his efficient work! Not gonna lie, we felt pretty proud!